![]() ![]() The world of computer recording and sequencing is a big help with visualizing song structure. Rock and pop are more idiosyncratic, so even though they are usually technically simpler than jazz, getting the different parts sorted out takes more work. Because of this formal standardization, you can put a group of jazz musicians who have never even met each other on a stage with zero rehearsal, and they’ll be able to play standard tunes together without difficulty. There are a few very widely used templates: the head-solos-head format, the thirty-two bar AABA standard, blues, rhythm changes, and so on. Jazz is easier to play than rock in a certain sense, because its song forms are more standardized. Any given section of a rock or pop song is likely to be simple, a few chords in a particular pattern, but the difficulty comes in figuring out and remembering the bigger structure: whether the guitar solo comes after the second verse or the chorus, how many bars long the bridge is, what beat the ending falls on. This leads to a lot of confusion during rehearsals and recording sessions. ![]() But plenty of musicians are unfamiliar with these systems, and may not have any method for writing down songs at all. ![]() Other systems for song documentation include chord charts and the Nashville numbering system. One such compromise system in widespread use is the lead sheet: Many of us use methods that fall somewhere in between. Some use lyric sheets and do everything else by ear. Some musicians use standard Western notation. How do you write out a pop, rock or dance song? There’s no single standard method. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |